SHARE

How to Melt & Mold Sugar

Written By

Linda Harris

Published: Jan 5, 2011

Updated: Nov 20, 2021

1 minute read

Things You Will Need

8 tablespoons of sugar
4 tablespoons of water
Juice of ¼ of a lemon
Wooden spoon
Saucepan
Plastic gloves
Silicone sheet

Melting and molding sugar is easy; the main difficulty is handling the hot mixture. Sugar molds are also a popular decoration for Easter celebrations.

Melting Sugar

Put sugar in a saucepan and place over medium heat on a stove.
Keep stirring the sugar until it starts to melt.
Add the lemon juice and water and keep stirring until the mixture has the consistency of honey. Remove from the heat.

Molding Sugar

Pour the sugar mixture onto the silicone sheet while it’s still hot. If you allow it to cool down it will no longer be malleable.
Put the gloves on to avoid burning your fingers and start peeling the mixture off the sheet, starting at the edges. Roll it into a ball so that you can shape it.
Shape the mixture into petals, leaves, animals or other forms.

References

Paul's Travel Pictures: Melting Sugar Food Art Experiment

Tips

You can use food coloring by stirring a teaspoon of it into the saucepan after adding the water. Add a little less water in this case. Alternately, you can try using food coloring spray once the mold has set; however, don't use liquid color on the molded sugar as this will cause it to dissolve.

It is important to add the lemon juice to prevent crystals from forming while the sugar heats up.

Warnings

Melted sugar can reach higher temperatures than boiling water, so it's very important to wear gloves to prevent burned fingers.

Photo Credits

brown sugar image by Bube from Fotolia.com